Manchester City striker Sergio Aguero was sent off from Tuesday’s Champions League against Olympique de Marseille due to a ham- tendon injury and could be out of action for two to four weeks, coach Pep Guardiola said Monday.
Aguero retired at half-time in Saturday’s Premier League 1–1 draw against West Ham United, and Guardiola confirmed that the 32-year-old suffered a muscle challenge only a week after starting the season for the first time after knee surgery.
“It depends on the injury. We expect a minimum of 10 to 15 days, or it may only take 3 weeks or a month,” Guardiola told reporters. “When you’re out for four or five months with a knee problem, you’re in danger when you get back.
“We tried to handle ourselves as best as possible, (playing it) 50-55 minutes in games, but it wasn’t enough to stop him and get him the games.
We knew he wasn’t in the most productive situations against Arsenal but without the strikers we had it was vital that he play the 60 minutes, we’ll have to be calm and wait for him to recover as soon as possible.
Guardiola demonstrated that midfielder Kevin De Bruyne and defender Aymeric Laporte were available for Tuesday’s clash in France, while new signing Nathan Ake (ingle) and striker Gabriel Jesus (thigh) were final on their return.
“Nathan is so ready to go back, Gabriel has 7 to 10 days to come back,” he added.
The City lacks Marseille from the experienced centre forward André Villas-Boas in the absence of the injured duo Aguero and Jesus.
When asked if the Etihad club had simply bought a striker at the end of the season to load more options, Guardiola said, “We may have it and have an idea about it and some other kind of striker, but we may not.
“You know, when you make the decision to buy an attacker, they have to be at the tip of Aguero and Jesus and we couldn’t. That’s the reality. ” (Report via Manasi Pathak in Chennai, edited through Pritha Sarkar)
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